This post is all about my email interview with Canadian singer/songwriter John Mamone. After listening to his album Order and Chaos I knew I had to speak with him, a beautiful combination of classic rock and metal mixed with some blues.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Dedicated, passionate, perfectionist (all musically speaking of course).
How did you come to be a musician?
Started very young. I learned how to play many instruments as I was growing up. My younger brother played drums, so naturally because the drums were in the house, I wanted to learn too. Taught myself the guitar and bass. Singing seemed to come naturally....I was a music fan from a very young age listening to The Beatles, Queen, Rush and Kiss by the age of 7.
If you weren't a musician, what would you be?
A visual artist of some kind....an illustrator.....computer graphics.....I went to college and university for visual arts.
Influences? Who did you grow up loving?
Grew up listening to The Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Cream....biggest influence is probably The Who, they're my favourite group. I am well-versed in classic rock.
If someone hasn't listened to your music, how would you sum it up? Time to pimp yourself out now...
My music is very reminiscent of classic Deep Purple or Iron Maiden, while having clear influences like Rush, Alice in Chains and Megadeth very prevalent in the instrumentation. Vocally, I have been told that I remind people of Ronnie James Dio and Freddie Murcury.
Are you currently touring?
I am always performing locally. No "tour" dates on the horizon.
Dream gig? And on that note, if you could organise a festival lineup who would you have play?
Opening for Rush, Megadeth or Iron Maiden.....those are the current working bands that I would love to open for.
What's next for you in say, the next six months?
Continue to promote my new album "Order and Chaos". Start writing demos for next album.
Order and Chaos...that's an oxymoron of a title. How did it come about?
The title was a direct result of the process I went through to record the album. It is truly a labour of love, recording songs, putting down ideas, creating lyrics....but it can also drive you mad too. This is the first full-length album I recorded using the computer. I have recorded other albums but they were all done on stand-alone recording devices and equipment. I also took a long time recording because my hard drive died and I lost everything I had recorded up to that point....I had to start from scratch...that nearly killed this album. Thankfully I wasn't too far into the recording process at that point.
My personal favourite on the EP is Burn Til There Ain't No Nothing Left, what can you tell me about the creation and origins of that track?
One of the first songs created for the album....This song started out as a blues song...then morphed into a heavy straight-ahead rocker...changed the lyrics several times.....then it became a song about how we're all going to get what's coming to us because of the choices we've made in our lives. This song will probably be single number two after Unlived is released in the US very soon.
Do you create songs from personal experiences/events or general concepts that interest you?
I write about all of the above...it really comes down to what inspires me or what I've got going on in my life. Sometimes it's fiction, sometimes it's a hats-off to someone, sometimes it's a "hey, you! yeah I'm talkin' to you!" kinda song. I'm generally interested in the state our society is in....think about it....we all unconditionally bow down to the government and let them run our lives....we succumb to the norms of having to keep up with the Jones's...gotta have the latest gadgets, gotta have the latest tv, gotta drive the latest style of automobile, gotta have a certain hairstyle, look a certain way, advertising a lifestyle....someone's always manipulating us. I particularly like to write about that theme.
Tell us some more about you...aside from music what are your passions?
I am a school teacher by day. I am absolutely happy to be a dad to my son Marcello.
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You can find John at www.johnmamone.com where you can listen to the album for yourself, or search Facebook to keep up to date with his latest news.
